The Sac-Joaquin Section released the tournament brackets for the girls high school basketball playoffs Sunday afternoon, with some expected and some surprising elements.
Most surprising may have been the drop of the Del Oro girls team from the No. 1 to the No. 2 seed in Division III despite the Lady Eagles having closed out the season with a pair of wins in a league with a much higher strength rating than St. Mary’s of Stockton, the team that passed them by.
As the second seed, the Del Oro girls will open postseason play on the home court against No. 15 Center Tuesday night. A win in that contest would move the Lady Eagles on to face the winner of the contest between No. 7 El Camino and No. 10 Dixon.
Sacramento High is the other high seed (No. 3) in the Del Oro half of the Division III girls tourney field.
Another surprise in the girls field comes in Division II, where two late season losses dropped Granite Bay three spots into the No. 5 position, meaning the Lady Grizzlies face a possible second-round road game at No. 4 Grant if both teams win Tuesday night.
Granite Bay opens play Tuesday night at home against No. 12 Ponderosa (Shingle Springs).
The Woodcreek girls also earned a home game in Division II, as the No. 8 Lady Timberwolves will host No. 9 Wood (Vacaville) on Tuesday. The winner of that game is in line to visit the D-II top seed, Oak Ridge in El Dorado Hills in Thursday’s second round.
Before getting to that matchup, Oak Ridge will first deal with Rocklin, as the Lady Thunder are in the field as the No. 16 seed. They will open play in El Dorado Hills Tuesday against a very talented Oak Ridge squad.
Roseville also received a spot in the bracket as the No. 15 seed. The Lady Tigers will be at No. 2 St. Francis on Tuesday night in the opening round of Division II play.
Roseville’s Valley Christian Academy draws the No. 9 seed in the Division V field, and will visit No. 8 Forest Lake Christian in Auburn for Tuesday’s opener.
The girls tourney opens at the sites of the higher seeded teams with first round games at 7 p.m. Tuesday and the second round Thursday at 7 p.m. Division II play continues the following week with the section semifinals Wednesday at UOP in Stockton and the finals Saturday afternoon at Arco Arena.
The D-III girls semifinals will be played the following Wednesday at Galt High School, with the finals Friday night at Arco. The D-V girls semifinals are the following Tuesday night at Galt High School with the section finals Friday at Arco.
Visit this site during the week for tournament previews, game results and analysis.
Tuesday playoff schedule for local girls teams (all games tip at 7 p.m.):
Division II
No. 16 Rocklin at No.1 Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills)
No. 15 Roseville at No. 2 St. Francis (Sacramento)
No. 9 Wood at No. 8 Woodcreek
No. 12 Ponderosa at No. 5 Granite Bay
Division III
No. 15 Center at No. 2 Del Oro
Division V
No. 9 Valley Christian at No. 8 Forest Lake Christian (Auburn)